During my first year of learning Chinese, I found that my high school had a sister-school-exchange program (项目) in Nanjing, China. Every summer, some students can study there and stay with host families for two and a half weeks. When I first heard about the chance to go to China, I knew I couldn't miss it out.
Fast forward to a summer, I waved bye to my family and flew to Beijing. In the first morning in China, I experienced a Chinese breakfast unlike anything I had ever tried. We spent three days in Beijing, going around the city and visiting famous landmarks. The highlight of our trip was the Great Wall. Seeing it in person for the first time was amazing even though I had seen hundreds of videos and pictures before.
After our three days in Beijing, we took a bullet train to Nanjing, where we would stay with our host families and attend classes given by our sister school. Although my host family did not speak English, they were super welcoming, which made me feel at home. On weekdays, we attended different classes at our sister school, including cooking, music, Kung Fu, custom (习俗), art, etc. I learned a lot about Chinese culture and how different it is from the American lifestyle.
Although the study has been over, I am forever thankful to my high school for giving me the opportunity to exchange in China and to immerse (沉浸) myself in its culture and meet amazing friends who I still keep in touch with to this day. I hope that one day I will have the chance to return to China and perhaps even live there at some point in my life!
①Leaving their parents. ②Staying in a host family.
③Knowing about a different culture. ④Making friends with local people.
